States seek flexibility during Common-test transitionEducation Week With the debut of common assessments less than two years away, states and districts are worried about the accountability systems that hinge on those tests. A growing chorus of policy groups is urging more flexibility in how states evaluate teachers, label schools and enforce other high-stakes consequences during what's likely to be a messy transition. Position papers from a range of organizations seek to stake out turf on the delicate question of how to postpone or temporarily ease some rules without abandoning accountability, at a time when the new, tougher assessments are projected to send test scores — at least at first — into a nose dive.

A nation of kids with gadgets and ADHDMobilediaGo to any family restaurant and you'll be surrounded by kids, ranging from toddlers to teens. Some are antsy, others are well-behaved, but a good number play on their phones and iPads. Oh, and 1-in-10 have ADHD. It's an epidemic. In the U.S., six million children have been diagnosed with ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. It's become the most common childhood behavioral condition. In fact, over the past decade, the number of kids diagnosed with the disorder surged by over 50 percent. And in the last six years, that rate has jumped about 15 percent alone, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Genetics of dyslexia and language impairment unraveled, earlier diagnosis to comeMedical DailyPeople affected by dyslexia often go undiagnosed until they're well into high school — living years without intervention and with stunted academic performance. The inability to recognize the order of words and letters within words is the hallmark of dyslexia, and prevents people from being able to read and write properly. Researchers have long suspected a genetic basis for dyslexia and that similar genetic issues may be responsible for impairments in language development and understanding. Dyslexia can affect anywhere from 5 to 10 percent of the population, although no solid studies have been done to determine the prevalence.

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In the News

Not all reading disabilities are dyslexiaVanderbilt UniversityA common reading disorder goes undiagnosed until it becomes problematic, according to the results of five years of study by researchers at Vanderbilt's Peabody College of education and human development in collaboration with the Kennedy Krieger Institute/Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Results of the study were recently published online by the National Institutes of Health. Dyslexia, a reading disorder in which a child confuses letters and struggles with sounding out words, has been the focus of much reading research.

No Child Left Behind bill passes Senate committee, but no end in sight for recasting Bush lawThe Huffington Post A lengthy overhaul of the No Child Left Behind Act passed through a Senate education committee, with senators voting 10-12 along party lines. The "Strengthening America's Schools Act" is an over 1,000-page bill authored by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who chairs the Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee. It rolls back some of the more stringent aspects of the No Child Left Behind Act, but keeps in place the requirement that states set and report performance targets for their students.

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Virtual learning for little ones raises developmental questionsEducation Week Given that the youngest schoolchildren are part of the touch-screen generation, the question of whether they're too wet behind the ears for online learning has shifted to a more complex concern: making sure the technology they're using in school is developmentally appropriate. In the Kyrene school district in Tempe, Ariz., which serves 18,000 students in kindergarten through 8th grade, educators first look at what they want students to learn, then decide which, and whether, technology can best help.

Can digital games boost students' test scores?MindShift In the past few years, educators have been closely watching the evolution of digital games used for learning. With a huge influx of products — whether they're individual apps for tablets or an entire suite of software — the market is already big and continues to grow, with entire game-based schools cropping up across the country. There's no question students are interested in digital games — 97 percent of kids play them — but what educators and industry watchers want to know is whether playing those games can actually improve student achievement.

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Study: Math requirements not aligned with Common Core in many statesThe Washington Post In a new sign that schools are not ready to fully embrace the Common Core State Standards, a report concludes that the large majority of states that have adopted the Core have not adjusted their math high school graduation requirements to meet the standards. The report, issued by Change the Equation and the National School Boards Association's Center for Public Education and called "Out of Sync: Many Common Core states have yet to define a Common Core-worthy diploma," found that 10 states plus the District of Columbia — out of the 45 that adopted the Core — have yet to align their math sequences of courses and graduation requirements to standards.

More special-ed kids head to traditional schoolsSan Jose Mercury News Los Angeles Unified will shift hundreds of disabled students from special-education centers to traditional schools this fall as it accelerates efforts to integrate youngsters with physical and developmental handicaps. The initiative calls for merging four special-education centers with nearby traditional schools and reconfiguring others, with more changes planned in the years ahead. In addition, all preschoolers who might previously have been enrolled in special-ed centers will start their schooling at traditional campuses instead.

How to recognize dyslexia earlyMoorpark AcornOne in 5 people in the U.S. has some sort of learning disability like dyslexia, yet experts say that for many children, the problem remains undiagnosed longer than it should.

Congress takes on school bullies with help from Hollywood, Kennedy familyU.S. News & World Report Congress said it was ready to restart the fight against school bullies, re-launching its anti-bullying caucus with support from the Kennedy family, a Hollywood filmmaker and leaders of major teacher advocacy groups. Formed in 2012, the main goal of the caucus is to advocate for bills that target bullying, such as the Safe Schools Improvement Act, which would require all schools to create and enforce anti-bullying policies. The bill, still in committee, was endorsed by President Barack Obama last year. But Rep. Mike Honda, D-Calif., who chairs the caucus, says he now believes legislation might not be the best answer.

Study gauges value of technology in schoolsThe New York Times With school districts rushing to buy computers, tablets, digital white boards and other technology, a new report questions whether the investment is worth it. In a review of student survey data conducted in conjunction with the federal exams known as the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the nonprofit Center for American Progress found that middle school math students more commonly used computers for basic drills and practice than to develop sophisticated skills. The report also found that no state was collecting data to evaluate whether technology investments were actually improving student achievement.

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